Brought to you by Electric Ireland.
Uncomfortable. Squashed. Messy: All words the average adult would use to describe the experience of sleeping in a tent on a festival campsite.
Add a few kids into the mix and bringing your children to their first family music festival could be a memory you’d rather forget.
So how do some families manage to have such a fun weekend camped beneath the stars in Stradbally?
The secret is organisation and a few timeworn tips passed down from generations of happy campers. Here are seven genius ways to turn your Electric Picnic camping trip into a glamping jaunt before the first act takes the stage.
1. Buy earplugs and eye masks
First festival with the kids? How to turn your family tent into a glamping zone
Remember the days when you’d party all night and watch the sun come up over the rolling fields? Yeah those days are gone now. Being a parent requires a minimum of four hours sleep per night and you must pull out all the stops to make it happen. This means drowning out the sound of young revellers having the time of their lives with earplugs and shielding your eyes from neon lights using an eye mask. You’ll thank us later.
2. Invest in an air mattress
If the last time you slept in a tent was in the Scouts, know this: your poor spine can no longer withstand a night on the cold hard ground. A self-inflating air mattress expands into a cloud-like bed inside your tent – plus you can use them when guests stay over later on. Extra points for glampers who bring a mattress topper too.
3. Bring a bigger tent than you need
Sure, a four-man tent is fine for four people, but you’ll have extra space for your stuff (and the octopus arms and legs of your sleeping children) if you buy a six-man or an eight-man tent.
Always choose a tent with a porch too – they’re a god send in torrential rain.
4. Pack bin bags for dirty laundry
Keep the inside of your little hideaway pristine by putting in place a ‘no shoes’ rule (leave muddy wellies and shoes in the tent porch). Place a large bin bag in the porch too to store dirty laundry.
5. Bring a cooler
Filling a cooler box with ice means you can pop in some yogurt and fruit for breakfast, some hummus, cheese and crackers for lunch and a hearty pasta salad for dinner – saving a fortune on family meals. What’s more, you can bring it to the family friendly Electric Ireland Throwback Stage and enjoy lunch while watching Dumb and Dumber or Clueless!
6. Skip the sleeping bags
While they’re easy to transport, sleeping inside a smelly sleeping bag is never truly comfortable. Instead, bring one extra large duvet, standard pillows and a few throw cushions to create a large and luxurious family bed.
7. Splurge on luxury toiletries
Queuing in the mud to use a questionable shower cubicle is one of the joys of festival camping. Make it less traumatic by packing a deliciously luxe shower gel or shampoo and a big fluffy towel.
Electric Ireland is the official energy partner of Electric Picnic. And we’re bringing 90s chart sensations 5ive, S Club Party and Jenny Berggren from Ace of Base PLUS a heap of nostalgia-filled fun and frolics, to our ultimate Throwback Stage at Stradbally this September.
